Less Than TwentyFour Hours
by rightxhere
Summary: Bosco at age twentysix, and where his life could’ve been had he joined the PD when he was eighteen, rather than the army.


**Title:** Less Than Twenty-Four Hours  
**Author:** Demelza  
**Disclaimer:** Third Watch and its characters belong to NBC, WB, John Wells, Ed Bernero and co. Mercedes Love Boscorelli (the sister to Maurice and Michael) is the copyrighted property of Fyre, while Kelly Marie Cunningham was created by Demelza, Amy & Fyre. All other original characters are the copyright property of the author. Please do not use them without permission, much thanks!!  
**Rating: **O15 (Over fifteen years)  
**Summary:** Bosco at age twenty-six, and where his life could've been had he joined the PD when he was eighteen, rather than the army.  
**Dedication:** Especially written for Fyre, whose Christmas wishlist included Boscorelli fic :)

It was the morning of Christmas Eve, and Bosco lay with only a cream sheet covering him from the abdomen down. Though it was winter, and freezing cold out, the apartment was very warm, with its central heating. Christina, or Chris as he and the guys at the precinct called her, had just headed into the bathroom to get ready for her tour, and he sighed aloud with a groan.

"C'mon, Chris, you don't gotta be there for another thirty minutes!"

He saw movement in the bathroom, caught glimpse of her as she removed his old grey NYPD shirt, revealing only black panties underneath. His lips curled with a smile, and he moved his head on the pillow for a slightly better view. He smiled wider, when she pushed the door closed all but a few inches, and he sighed again. "You only need seven minutes to get out the door and arrive with a minute to spare!"

"I know you, _Boscorelli_," she replied, her Californian accent prominent. There was silence for a moment, when he heard the zip of her jeans as she did them up. The door opened within a minute, and he grinned as she walked toward him, topless. "You don't fool me."

He watched her move to the dresser at his side of the bed; wet his lips when she pulled her bra out of the top drawer. "I don't, huh?" he asked, pushing the sheet off and climbing out of the bed behind her. He stepped up to her as she pulled the bra on, about to do it up, when he placed a kiss on her left shoulder and she sighed. "You sure you don't want to come back to bed?" he murmured, slipping both arms around her stomach, drawing himself closer to her.

"Oh no...no you don't..." Chris replied, turning in his arms and, stepping back from him. "I am not going to be late because of you. Not on the last shift I have til the New Year."

He stepped closer. "Even more reason to be late for your shift," Bosco replied, his hands moving to her long, dark tresses. He twisted a little of her hair on his finger, then pulled his hand free and caressed her cheek. "You want to be late..."

Her eyes drifted shut, silently lulled by his touch, when she shook her head, pulling fully away from him this time. Walking away, she tried to do her bra up, but she moaned a soft sigh when it wouldn't do up the way she wanted.

Bosco smiled, following behind her, and hooked the straps for her. "Course, I'd rather be taking that off you..."

Chris took a couple of steps forward, when she turned and saw him in full view. "That..." she murmured, "Is not fair."

"What?" he asked, an innocent smile tugging at his lips.

"That, you...this..." None of her words were making sense, and it made him smile. She sighed. "_This_ is how you and I got mixed up in the first place," she said, her hazel eyes locking onto his grayish-blue.

His smile only grew. "You know, since I'm naked, and you're semi-naked..."

"No, Maurice."

"It's only fair to be naked together..." He took a step closer to her.

Chris sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she shook her head. "I recall you saying that the first time too," she said, finally opening her eyes with a sigh. "But it won't work. Not again."

Another step and he carefully moved both his hands to her hips. "Won't it?" he asked, leaning in and kissing just left of her mouth, along her jaw and to her earlobe.

She sighed, eyes closing again, and murmured, "You son of a..."

\/

It was near half past ten that same night, and Bosco's shift was almost at an end. He and partner Benny Ross had been taking one drunken call after another, mixed in with way too many shoplifters and one little old lady who couldn't seem to find her car. As it had turned out, from what her grandson had told them, she had sold her car back in the fifties, so her car – the one her Alzheimer's had convinced her she still owned – was long gone.

For now, the two officers were holed up in a warm restaurant the cops of the Five-Five had pretty much called their own in recent months.

"Four?!" Benny exclaimed, he shook his head at the new waitress. "You're how old? Twenty-seven?"

"Thirty-two," the redhead replied.

"Huh."

"I'll go give the chef your orders," she said, walking away with a look of disdain on her face.

Benny was still shaking his head, but Bosco wasn't paying him any attention. When their paths had crossed at the end of her tour and the beginning of his, Chris had told him she'd be meeting him here at the restaurant near the end of his shift to make plans for late night shopping, but though he and Beeny had been here a few minutes now, she still hadn't yet arrived.

Sighing, he checked his watch, before looking at Benny, who was still shaking his head. He picked up his mug of coffee, nodded in direction of the waitress. He smiled to himself. "Bet a guy sat there like you, doin' the same thing when she told him she had three kids."

Benny snapped out of whatever train of though he'd had going on, and looked back at him. "What?"

Bosco took a long, quiet sip of his coffee, when he set the mug down, "Nine months later..."

"You're sick," Benny spat back, pulling a disgusted face.

"What, you think just cause she's got four kids she don't have sex? Hell, she probably has sex in spite of havin' four kids!"

"Shhh, geez man!" the other cop protested. "Always gotta open ya big flippin' mouth, don't ya Boscorelli?"

Bosco just laughed.

A little later their meal was brought over, with Benny avoiding eye contact and conversation with the still annoyed waitress, while Bosco busily stuffed one fry in his mouth after another. He had eaten about the quarter of the basket, when he saw Chris and her partner, Faith Yokas, walking in, each loaded with bags in and under both arms.

He smiled wide, wiping the ketchup from his hands onto a napkin, and rose to his feet as the two came over. Chris stopped at his right, set her bags down, before placing a kiss on his cheek, while Faith took up the seat at the other side of Benny. "Missed ya," Bosco said, slipping his arm around Chris' waist and drawing her to him for yet another kiss.

"Liar," Chris playfully replied, pulling out the napkin he wore tucked into his collar. She rose her eyebrows at him, scrunching the napkin in her hand and dabbing the sauce from both corners of his mouth. "Looks to me like you just got caught making out with a bottle of ketchup."

Bosco grinned, his gaze dropping to her lips for a moment, then lifting to her hazel eyes again. "Maybe next time I'll let you join in, huh?"

"Mmm, Maurice Boscorelli and ketchup..."

"God, just stop it, would you two?" Benny groaned aloud then, making the three of them laugh. He looked at Faith. "You find that funny? It's...ew...nasty, yuck, I don't even want that visual in my head!"

A deviant smirk on his lips, Bosco took a half step back from Chris, looking at her at an arm's length. "There," he said, licking his lips as he looked at her right breast. "There," he murmured, looking at her left breast. "There...there...definitely there..."

"Oh shut up," Chris laughed, pulling on Bosco's arms and bringing him in front of her once again. The two shared a tender kiss, when it soon came to an end and the two sat at the table with their respective partners. "Anyway," she said, still holding firmly onto his hand. "I got your mother's gift, but I'm not sure she'll like it. You know, considerin' I've never actually met her," she said, shooting him a glare.

He didn't see the glare, and didn't respond to it. "If it's got something to do with flowers, she'll love it," he said, picking out a fry from the basket in front of him and eating it. "Way Mercedes tells it, Ma's really gettin' into all that floral crap."

"Hey, I like flowers," Chris said, snatching the next fry he picked up from his hand.

"You always smell like them too," he replied.

"And _you_," she said, placing a pointed finger against his chest, "Always tell me how much that smell drives you crazy."

He cast a small grin her direction. "I tell you what other smell I like on you..."

"Not musk," Chris protested, glancing at Faith, who was nodding her head in agreement. "I mean it's okay, but it's no...oh!" Her head turned sharply, a lingering gasp in her throat. Bosco's hand was on her thigh, inching higher. "Not...in..._public_..."

"That's not the indication I got last Sunday, Ms. Sheppard, when you..."

"Hey, you promised you'd never tell a living soul about that, Maurice."

He smiled, laughing. Though she called him by his first name, whenever she said it while giving him a warning or reprimanding him, he could help but love it that much more. Her calling him by his name did things to her enough as it was...but when she used it in that way, it did things she didn't know she had the power to control.

But...she was right, not in public.

He withdrew his hand from her thigh with a promising smile, being sure to make a mental note to pick things up when they got home from their late night shopping.

When the two finally stopped looking at each other, it was more than apparent that Faith was a little uncomfortable, and Benny was looking even more annoyed than he was before. Bosco had an idea his partner was looking at another lonely Christmas day tomorrow, and that was probably why he was acting like such a sullen bastard tonight.

"We get anything for 'Cedes yet?" Bosco asked after a minute or so of silence.

Chris picked out a fry, popped it in her mouth. "A couple of things, but we haven't picked up her bigger gift yet," she said, casting him a small smile.

He just nodded.

"You still undecided about which of the gifts on your list to get for your brother?"

"I was th—"

"Geez, do the two of you never stop?" Benny groaned. "All you ever do is yap yap yap. And if you're not yappin' your heads off, you're bein' all kissy face and..."

"Shut up, Benny," Bosco and Chris both replied, making Faith chuckle.

Chris rolled her eyes, turning to Bosco. "Maybe we can talk about it later, when we hit the mall."

"The mall...?" He shook his head.

"Honey, it's Christmas..."

"And I hate the mall. Benny and I spent most of this week in one arresting one brat thief after another. I'm not stepping foot in another one once this tour ends."

Chris smiled, leaned over and placed her hand on _his_ thigh. "Well...I suppose I could get the gifts on your list for you..." She ran her hand higher up his thigh, making him squirm a little. "But there are ways I can punish you for being so damn lazy," she said, pulling her hand back and sitting up straight.

"Sick," Benny groaned.

Bosco cleared his throat. "You're an evil, evil, woman."

She just smiled, before placing a quick peck on his lips and rising to her feet again. "I'll drop Faith off, then head back to the mall."

"Thanks babe," Bosco said, smiling up at her. "Drive safe."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Faith said from the other side of the table.

"Sweet?" Chris asked, she laughed. "He's talking about his baby, not his girlfriend."

"Baby?"

"Sixty-nine Mustang," Benny answered, looking over at Faith. "She scratches it..."

"Which I wouldn't," Chris said, pointedly.

Benny sat forward, receiving a glare from Bosco. He was about to say something he shouldn't, and if the words left his mouth, Bosco was going to kick his ass. "_She scratches it_, that's it. They're over. No break-up sex, nothing."

"Hey!" Chris exclaimed, thumping Bosco in the shoulder.

"In my defense," he began, taking hold of her hand to erase the frown she wore. "I told Benny that when we'd been goin' out two months. It's been almost ten and I never once said it again."

"You better be right about that, because if I hear you've said that again I will scratch that car. And that, _my darling Maurice_, is a promise."

Benny pulled a horrified face. "Darling." He shuddered.

Bosco went to speak, when Chris set her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "I might be a little late, but I'll see you after work, okay?"

He nodded. "Yup."

She placed a kiss on his forehead. "Bye."

"Yup," he said again, watching her fumble with the bags as she gathered them together. "Need a hand?"

"Huh," she laughed, "The last time I accepted that offer..." She didn't finish, only give him a smile, before heading away with Faith, leaving Bosco sitting there, an all knowing smirk on his face.

\/

Benny and Bosco had just gotten back in their RMP after letting dispatch know they were back from their meal break, when a call from dispatch came across their radio.

"55-David, there's a 10-30 at two-thirty-two West 32nd Avenue."

Sighing, Bosco looked at Benny, picked up his radio transceiver and pushed in the button. "10-4 central, 55-David."

"Another day," Benny groaned, flicking on the lights and sirens, "Another late-Christmas robbery."

"Yeah."

The robbery in progress was a couple of blocks south-west of their location, and by the time the pair arrived they could see inside the diner, and one of the women that worked there was comforting another, while a couple of customers were standing around them. The sight made Bosco frown. While the call from dispatch hadn't specifically outlined the use of any weapons, he now feared the worst.

The two men climbed out of their RMP and walked into the diner. The dark haired younger woman who was being comforted looked familiar to Bosco, but it was only as he and Benny stepped in through the open door that he realized who she was. "Kel," he said.

"Who?" Benny asked him.

"Kelly Cunningham," he answered. "Mike's friend in high school. She left the city just before I joined the P.D."

"Looks like she's back then, huh?"

"Yeah," he murmured. "Looks like it."

They were walking over to the table, when the older woman seated beside Kelly rose to her feet. "Thank God you're here. That little scoundrel threatened Kelly here, and made off with over twenty dollars!"

"It's okay Ma'am, we'll catch him," Benny said, Bosco was too fixed on the stooped over younger woman at the table. "Can you describe him to me?"

"Rude, arrogant, swore like one of them truckers that come in here every other day."

"He meant physical description," Bosco said, finally looking at the woman. "Hair, eye, clothing."

"Green," the woman said. She sighed. "Green jacket, dark green jeans – or corduroy – and baby-blue eyes. I think his hair was a dark brown, but he was wearing some stupid grey beanie. You know I think that is the worst thing the young ones these days wear, always hiding who they really are...oh but you can bet when they get caught they'll..."

"Ma'am," Bosco and Benny both sighed. Benny busily wrote down the woman's vague description, then led her aside to try get more information, while Bosco stood there, looking at Kelly. She sat there with her elbows resting atop the table. She held a twisted pink handkerchief in both hands, and when he sat down beside her, she seemed to freeze for a moment.

She swallowed, sighing slowly. "Maurice," she breathed, turning her head to look at him.

"Hey, Kel," he said with a small, shaken smile. "Are you okay? That guy, the punk ass that robbed you, he didn't hurt you, did he?"

She quietly shook her head, strands of her shoulder-length dark hair falling. She lifted a trembling hand, pushing the hair behind her ear. "He pointed a gun into my back," she said, sniffing as she remembered. "I didn't see him, I mean I did but he kept pushing me in the back of my head..."

He noted the back of her hair was a little messed up, and he nodded, silently.

"...But I recognized his voice," Kelly said, sighing again, looking down at the table top. "I'm just not sure how...how I can tell him."

"The guy that robbed you?" he asked, confused.

Her breath caught, and she turned her head toward Bosco once more. "Michael," she said, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.

Bosco's eyes, however, narrowed with a flash of uncertainty. It had been almost eighteen months since he had seen Michael last. Back then his younger brother had gotten himself into trouble – again – except that was the last time Bosco had helped him out. He'd told Michael that that was it. He wasn't going to help him any more. He wasn't a little kid getting beat on any more, he was a grown man with a drug problem, and he had to clean himself out on his own.

"He's clean."

Kelly's words broke him from his thoughts. Michael had said that so often, that, as much as he wanted to, Bosco couldn't believe it when Kelly told him now. He cleared his throat, "This guy someone Mike knows?"

She didn't answer, just stared at him.

"Kel...if Mike's clean like you say, me knowin' the guy's name isn't gonna get Mike in trouble. You've gotta believe that."

"I do, Maurice. I do, it's just that...he...when Michael got himself clean in June, he—Charlie—told him that if he gets caught, no matter what for, he was going to make Michael do time too. For...everything."

"What _everything_, Kel? Mike snorted rocks, smoked weed..."

"He..." She looked at one of the customers, then lowered her head, not looking at Bosco.

"He, what?" he quietly asked.

"In February they did a few...deals...but as soon as Michael found out how disappointed I was, he stopped, Maurice. He went into rehab, and he got himself clean."

He shook his head, not believing her.

"Maurice, I was there. I visited him every weekend, I was his support person, okay? He did all their programs, he..."

"But he's connected to this guy, this drug dealer?"

"Charlie Keswick," she answered with a nod.

Bosco stared at her for a moment, when he bust out laughing. "Little Charlie? Charlie who peed his pants every Fourth of July until eighth grade?"

She raised her left eyebrow, nodding.

He shook his head. "Shit."

"Bosco," Benny said from behind, and Bosco stood up, facing his partner. "I've got enough info on this guy. It's Charlie..."

"Kenswick."

"Stupid little son of a bitch. I thought the judge put his ass in jail back in October?"

"I thought so too," Bosco murmured. He turned back to Kelly then and for a moment he just stared at her face as she moved to get up from the table. He frowned, something about her was different. He knew she had changed in looks since they'd last met, but there was something else. Something he'd seen when they first came into the diner, but hadn't picked up on until that moment. And then, as she rose to her feet finally, that's when his eyes dropped to her rather large, round stomach. "..."

"Kelly!!"

Bosco's head jerked to the left and he stepped back as his clean-shaven, winter coat and blue work overall wearing younger brother came running in and over to Kelly, hugging her tight.

"Baby, are you okay?" Michael asked, cupping her face in both hands as he stepped back to look at her. She nodded, tearfully, and he hugged her again. "Oh Kel, I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault, Michael," she said, looking at Bosco for a moment, then back at Mikey. "But...how did you get here so fast? Lisa only called after it happened..."

"I was on my way here early to pick you up," he said, still oblivious to his older brother's presence. "How is he though? The baby?"

"Michael..." she started, but the words wouldn't form.

"Kel, what is it? What's wrong? What did that son of a bitch do...?"

"Nothing," Bosco answered for her, "Short of scaring her," he said, and Kelly nodded.

Michael looked over his shoulder slowly first, before turning halfway to face his brother. "Mo, I didn't..." he stammered, shaking his head.

There was a lot Bosco wanted to say, a lot he wanted to ask, but he kept those thoughts at bay. "We know who did it, and as soon as we're done here we'll go find him. But Kel, the detectives'll wanna talk with her..."

"Does it have to be now? Tonight? It's Christmas Eve, Mo," Michael said, and Bosco could hear the desperation in his voice.

He looked at Benny for a moment, who stood there with that concentrated look on his face, like anything Bosco would answer with would be the wrong answer. Exhaling, he turned to Michael. "No. Considering it's Christmas and all, they won't get off their fat asses to take the case til after the New Year anyways. You just—you take her home, Mike, make sure she rests up and doesn't stress about what happened here tonight."

He nodded, "Okay Mo."

Kelly, her right hand resting on her stomach, looked over at the older woman who had been sitting with her when Bosco and Benny came in. "Is that okay? If I go?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"Of course it is dear," the woman said from beside Benny. "You rest up doll, enjoy your Christmas."

"I—we will," Kelly said, holding onto Michael's arm.

The other woman smiled, and as the two headed out of the diner, Michael cast Bosco a thankful look, while Kelly rested her head against his shoulder.

They were leaving, and it was finally hitting Bosco. Kelly was pregnant, and Michael...well, Michael was the father. On one hand, he was upset they hadn't told him, and on the other he was angry that they'd kept something so big a secret. Worse, he wondered if either their Ma or Mercedes knew.

\/

After leaving the diner, they made a detour to a place where Bosco was sure Charlie would be. It was an old building, one Michael used to hang out at when he was in trouble as a teenage. He surmised it was probably a place Charlie would use for refuge as well.

Sure enough, they arrived only moments after Charlie did and arrested him for the robbery at The Glenworth Diner.

Benny suggested he take sole responsibility for the arrest, considering Michael and Kelly's connection to him, and Bosco was fine with that. He had something else to do, he told his partner, and with that he got changed, clocked out and headed out into the night in black jeans, boots a thick shirt and a dark brown, padded winter coat.

On the way, he called Chris on her cellphone and told her he'd meet up with her back at their apartment. There was somewhere he needed to be, he'd explained, and she'd told him to make sure he was 'careful out there'. He promised he would be, but when he hung up he felt guilty that his real reasons were, though true that there was somewhere he needed to be, he just didn't much fancy talking to her about it all – he knew she'd talk him out of what he was going to do, but he really needed to do it. _He had to._

If there was one thing he could count on at Christmas Eve, it was the high chance of his mother and sister being at their church, for Mass. Climbing out of the cab, he paid the driver before approaching the steps. He had to go in there, he had to talk to his Ma and tell her what had gone down tonight; more than that, he had to tell her about Michael. There was no way that she knew about he and Kelly, and the pregnancy, and didn't tell him. There just wasn't.

But, stepping up the steps, he turned and walked down them again, sighing heavily as he did so. An older gentleman passed him by, and Bosco gave him a nod, but the man looked at him wryly, before continuing on his way.

How was he going to do it? How was he going to break out the words to his very own mother?

Sighing again, he paced the pavement a few times, trying to find the right words in his mind to tell her. It was going to break her heart. She was going to be upset.

Then he stopped as another train of thoughts hit him. What if she already knew? What if she had known all along?

He paced some more, when finally he heard the doors of the church creak open, and he turned, finding himself staring at his sixteen year old sister, Mercedes, and a group of her friends. He swallowed hard, watching as the friends all said their goodbyes, and Mercedes came down the stairs, a wide grin on her face.

"Mo, I thought you'd come! I told Ma you would, and she...!"

"Where is she, 'Cedes?" he snapped, before sighing with an apologetic shake of his head.

The teen, less than impressed, stuffed her hands in the pockets of her pink coat and mumbled, "Talkin' inside with Aunt Celia...why?"

"Cause I...nothin'. Don't worry 'bout it, 'Cedes. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

Her eyes lit up then. "So you're comin'?"

Bosco crooked his head to the right. "What, you thought I wouldn't?"

She rolled both shoulders with a shrug. "Guess I kinda figured you wouldn't want to, now you've got a _girlfriend_." There was a smile on her lips, and he tossled her hair, making her laugh. "So when we do we get meet her, huh Mo? You've been goin' out with her like ten months straight, and me and Ma still haven't even met her. Well, not proper like."

"You will, tomorrow," he promised. "We've just been real busy with work, that's all 'Cedes."

"Sure," she said, her smile fading a little. She nodded, shrugged again. "I understand, Mo."

He gave her an apologetic look, and it made her smile return. "Forgive me, Squirt?"

She rolled her eyes a bit, shaking her head, when she laughed and nodded. "Always, Mo."

"Good. Look, I better get outta here anyways...Chris and I have some presents we haven't wrapped yet and..."

"If that's 'adult talk' for sex, ew Mo," she said, pulling a face.

Bosco couldn't help but laugh, though he felt his cheeks burn a little. He never would get used to his little sister using that word. "It's 'adult talk' for wrappin' presents, 'Cedes," he said, still chuckling.

"Good, cause...yeah, just ew," she replied, scrunching up her nose.

He smiled, staring at her for a moment, when he let out a sigh, nodded toward the church. "Let Ma know me and Chris'll be there 'round ten, okay?"

"I will Mo. Night."

"Night," he said back, waving a short wave as he began walking away. Maybe it was a good thing, he thought. If he'd seen his Ma, he'd have only gotten angry, or upset, or maybe even both, and it was Christmas, he didn't need to be like that. He didn't want to. It only reminded him of the way their father was with their Ma when she told him anything that was going on with his kids lives.

"I'm not gonna turn out like you," he mumbled, taking in a deep breath of the icy air. He refused to.

\/

It was well after midnight by the time Bosco finally made it home. He had just put his keys in the door, when it opened from the other side and he saw Chris standing there, wide smile on her face.

"I thought maybe you'd forgotten all about me," she said, taking him by the hand and pulling him to her. She kissed him full on, her arms winding around his neck.

He smiled into the kiss, deepening it, when she pulled back with that slightly deviant smile on her lips that he loved so much. "What are you up to?" he asked, pushing the door closed behind him as he came into the apartment.

"Why, _Officer_, I haven't the faintest clue as to what you're talkin' about."

He grinned. "Oh, you do...you're up to something, I know you are."

Chris laughed a soft, feminine chuckle, and it made his chest warm. That laugh always was the lead up to her revealing that sexy lingerie she wore whenever either one of them got some kind of commendation. And, of course, that would lead to a night of hot sex. The thought made him smile.

"Well, if you must know..." she began, almost purring as she replaced her arms around his neck, and slid up real close to him. "...I took a test tonight."

"Really?" he smiled, his eyes widening. "I didn't know they were doin' the sergeants exams Christmas Eve..."

"Not...that kind of...test..." she softly stammered.

"Then I am utterly confused," Bosco said, kissing her tenderly. "What kind of test are we talkin' about? IQ?"

"Smaller..."

"Uhh..." He kissed her once, wet his lips, then kissed her again. "I dunno?"

"It..." she murmured, returning his kisses kiss for kiss, "...was a pregnancy test."

His lips were wide with a smile, when, slowly, her words sinking in, the smile faded. "It was what?"

"A pregnancy test," Chris said, pressing her forefinger to his lips, "And, I know we always talked about how, if we ever got to that point, it'd be when we both decided it was time..."

His mind was all over the place, and he couldn't think...he couldn't speak.

"We always said we didn't wanna rush things," she added, her eyes focused on his lips.

"Yeah..."

"But..."

"But...?"

She lifted her gaze to his. "If I were...pregnant...?"

"Which...you are...?"

She stared at him silently for a moment. "If I were...would it be so bad?"

His mind was racing. He couldn't stop seeing Kelly. He couldn't stop thinking about how she was pregnant, and she was having his brother's baby. When, "Are you?" he asked, his heart beginning to race that bit faster.

Tears were building in her eyes, and she shrugged with her right shoulder. "If you're okay with it...then, yeah. Yeah, I am, Maurice. I'm pregnant."

Seeing her tears only brought his own to the surface, and Bosco slowly nodded, acknowledging he'd heard the words. He didn't know what to say.

"If you're not, I want you to tell me. I want you to be honest. Because if you're not, I'll make an appointment, and...and I won't be...I won't, if that's what you'd rather."

The tears rolled down Chris' cheeks and he pulled her into a hug, holding her tight. "I want you to be," he whispered, "I'm okay with it...I'm okay with you bein' pregnant," he promised, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Oh Maurice," she cried, hugging him back just as tightly. "Thank you...thank you."

The truth was, how could he not be okay with that, when Michael and Kelly were? They, for the brief few moments he had seen them together, were in love, and their life together was what they wanted. He could see that, and he knew his Ma was going to be happier than she'd been in some very long years. She had longed to be a grandmother, and if she didn't already know, she was going to be over the moon with joy.

He just wished he could find the right words as he held onto Chris. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he wasn't sure what this all meant, or how their lives would be from this point forward, especially when the baby came along, but he didn't know how to say it. And then he remembered the tears he had seen in her eyes.

Ever since he'd known her, she had always talked about never wanting to have kids, not with the job they both did. The truth was, he hadn't never been fussed on the idea himself, or at least not until he was at least over the age of thirty. But they were both twenty-six years old. And she...was pregnant. _They_ were pregnant, and with everything else going on he didn't know what to make of it all.

He wished he could. He wished he knew the answers. Heck, he wished he knew what the questions were. All he knew was that he wanted to hold her tight. He wanted to hold her close, and not let her go.

\/

Sleeping in until just after nine, Bosco awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking. He pushed the blankets back gingerly, gathering fresh boxers from the middle drawer after he got up out of the bed. He pulled them on, grabbed a red t-shirt and pulled it on over his head, all in one seamless movement.

Rubbing the back of his neck to remove the crick first, he walked out of the room, across the narrow corridor, and into the living room, where he saw Chris working in the kitchen behind the stove. He moved into the kitchen, where he stopped to stare at her. She was wearing a long black t-shirt, and that was it. The sight made him smile, and he leaned against the kitchen counter, admiring the curvature of her hips.

And, almost as if on cue, she looked over her shoulder at him. "Sleep well?" she asked, softly.

"Mmhmm," he nodded, his gaze trailing down her thighs. "You?"

She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "Definitely," she said, biting her lower lip as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "Bacon and eggs are cookin'. Those hash browns should be done in a..."

The toaster made a zinging sound, and four crispy hash browns popped up.

"...now," she smiled.

Bosco cast her a warm smile back, before moving to the toaster and putting the hash browns on the two plates in front of it. He picked them up and walked them over to Chris, set them to the left of the stove.

"Thank you," she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. "The rest just needs another minute."

He nodded. "Juice?"

"Yeah, please," Chris said, turning back to the stove for only a moment, when she reached out and placed her hand on his arm, stopping him. "Actually, make that a glass of milk...please." She added a small, warm smile.

"As you wish," Bosco replied, moving to the refrigerator.

"I was talkin' with your Ma before..."

"Oh yeah?" He pulled the cream refrigerator door open, scanned the door for the milk, when he remembered Chris' affinity for placing it on the top shelf.

"She was sayin' Michael and his girlfriend would be there for lunch..."

"Oh," he said, standing up straight. He stood there, holding the carton of milk in his left hand. "She say anythin' else?"

"Only that it was really nice hearin' from him, she'd barely seen him these last few months, except when he called in to fix the garbage disposal unit for her."

His forehead creased. Michael was a fixit man?

"She also said that he had some kinda big announcement to make, and she was sayin' she thinks he's come clean from his drugs."

Slowly, Bosco looked over his shoulder at Chris. She was looking back at him. "That's good...I mean it's great, him comin' clean like that."

"She also said you freaked Mercedes out a little. I didn't know you'd gone to see them last night. If I'd known, I would've loved to have come too..."

"Well," he said, pushing the refrigerator door shut. "It was more a last minute thing, y'know?" He shrugged. He walked to the overhead cupboard where they kept the glasses. "Kel was robbed at the diner where she worked, and Mike..."

"Kel?"

"Kelly," he corrected, reaching into the cupboard for both glasses. He set them on the counter, unscrewed the little plastic lid from the milk carton. "His girlfriend," he said, adding a small shrug. "He showed up a few minutes later, took her home. She was pretty shaken up."

"Oh wow...the poor girl," Chris said, turning down the gas on the stove. She looked sideways at Bosco. "How come you didn't tell me?"

"I..." He poured the first glass of milk, sighed silently, then set the carton down. "She..."

"She wasn't hurt, was she?"

"No. No she wasn't. She...you know, it doesn't matter, it's their thing. Their announcement."

She stared at him for a long minute, when she turned back to the stove to dish up their food.

"It should come from them," Bosco added, quietly.

"I understand," Chris answered. She finished dishing up the bacon and eggs to both plates, adding extra bacon to his plate, when she set the frying pan back on the stove.

She picked up both plates, taking them to the table, while Bosco grabbed a knife and fork for them both and carried them, and the glasses of milk, out to the table too. He had just finished setting both items down, when Chris stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, like she had done the night before.

"Hey," she began, her voice soft. "Everything's gonna be okay," she said, raising her eyebrows a little. "You know that, don't you?"

Nodding, he placed his hands on her hips. "I know."

"Besides," she murmured, a wide grin spreading across her lips. "It's Christmas."

He smiled back, leaned in and kissed her.

"And you know...at Christmas..." She gently placed her hand against his cheek, traced his jawline, and placed the fingertip of her index finger against his mouth. "Breakfast isn't really the most important meal of the day..."

Bosco's mouth spread wide with a grin. "I've heard that," he murmured, "And you know what else I've heard?"

Chris bit her lower lip, shaking her head, when she leaned in, whispering in his left ear. "If it has to do with you being totally naked...I may need to be told again..."

"I couldn't tell you..." he said, gathering the seam of her t-shirt in both hands. With the garment up to her hips, he slid both hands up, underneath it, caressing her skin softly. "But I might show you."

"Oh really?" She placed a teasing kiss against his lips. "Well...if that's the case, by all means...please do..."

Whatever had been on his mind those minutes ago, it was gone now as he helped her remove her t-shirt first, then his own. She wasn't wearing her bra, and he smiled in delight, when they stepped together, her bare breasts touching his chest. "God you're amazingly beautiful, Christina," he said, his voice fading. He licked his lower lip, bit down on it, before hungrily kissing her like he had done so many times before.

Her hands were roaming his stomach, and his were drawing her hips closer to him. She deepened the kiss, and when her right hand reached into his boxers his first reaction was to lightly bite her lower lip.

She groaned into his mouth, stroking him, when the telephone on the far wall began to ring. "Machine can get it," she mumbled, other hand slipping around his waist to hold him tight.

"Mmmm," he moaned, both hands caressing her back.

The phone kept on ringing. One shrill bellow after another.

"That's drivin' me insane..." Bosco groaned, breaking away from the kiss, but Chris only moved the kisses to his throat. His eyes drifted shut, the sensations of her hand on his hardening erection and her lips against his skin heavenly.

The shrill ringing didn't stop though, and the machine wasn't picking the call up.

"Damnit."

"Leave it," Chris implored; the kisses against his throat stopped as she placed her other hand under his chin and brought his gaze to hers.

"I...can't..." he whispered, however painfully. He kissed her full-on, a promising look in his eyes. "Might be kinda important..."

He was stepping backward, and she was moving with him. "Fine," she pouted, "But if you think I'm gonna stop..."

"God I hope you don't," he said, kissing her once more, when they stopped against the wall and he reached for the phone. He set the receiver to his ear, his eyes closing as Chris' body fell against his, and her wet lips went to his throat again.

"Bosco...relli..." he mumbled into the phone, every part of him struggling to hold in the loud groan he was desperate to release, when his eyes shot open and he stood up straight, away from the wall – making Chris withdraw her hand from his boxers and stand with her arm around him, staring at him concernedly. "Mike...Mike just calm down...what the hell do you mean she's..."

Bosco's gaze dropped to Chris' then, and he exhaled sharply, before continuing, "Mike...Mike...Mike! Look we'll be right down there! Just call Ma, okay? Mike...Mike, make sure you call Ma...yes, I promise, we'll be right there...I promise...just go call—"

The phone sounded with a dialtone on the other end, and Bosco lowered the receiver and held it against his stomach. His heart was racing, and when he looked at Chris he slowly shook his head. "Kelly, Mike's girlfriend...she...she's gone into premature labor. And I know, I know it's from that son of a bitch that robbed the diner last night."

"Oh my God..." Chris murmured, "...Maurice...I..."

"He wants us there," he added, and she nodded. All he could do was stand there though, holding Chris against him.

\/

Bosco and Chris walked, holding hands, along the corridor of the hospital, when they turned one last corner and walked into the Maternity Wing. There was one woman working the desk, an older woman with long blonde hair. "Can I help you?" she asked the two with a wide smile.

"Kelly Cunningham," Bosco said, placing his free hand on the desk.

"Are you related?" the woman enquired.

"She's my brother's girlfriend," he answered.

"Okay love, go right down the end, room seventeen. The midwife is with her now, but if you wait just outside the door you'll be able to go in when she's done," the woman smiled.

Bosco nodded, began walking away, when Chris thanked her for the information. "Yeah, thank you," he said over his shoulder, and the woman gave him a small nod and another smile.

"You okay?" Chris asked as they took a few more steps along the corridor. "You've not said a word since you got the call."

"I'm okay. I'm good," he said, glancing sideways at her. "Just...thinkin'...you know, this could be us...it could be you, rushed in before you're due."

"That's not going to happen," she said, squeezing his hand in reassurance.

"But it could, and...really, anythin' could happen. An' it makes me worry. It makes me worry, and with you workin' days, and me workin' nights..."

She stopped him then, gently pulled on his hand so he'd face her. He did. "Baby, nothin' will happen, you've gotta believe that. Okay?"

"Mike ringin' just got me thinkin', that's all..." He shrugged. "What if...you know?"

"I do. But come on, we're both damn good at our jobs, and nothin' is gonna happen to either one of us...ya hear me?" He nodded, slowly, and she stepped up to him, pressed a kiss to his lips. "And besides, we've got a whole three weeks to sort everything out. We don't have to worry about this today. Right now, we've gotta focus on Mike and Kelly. Okay?"

Again, he nodded. "Okay."

"Good," she said, squeezing his hand gently again. They continued walking, and when they reached just outside Kelly's room, the midwife came out of her room and a loud 'thud thud thud' sound reverberated from inside. The midwife cast the pair a smile and told them to 'go on in'.

"I'm right with you," Chris said at Bosco's side, holding onto his arm, as well as his hand.

He cast a look at her, gave her a small smile of thanks, and let out a heavy exhale. He didn't know what to expect, more than that, he didn't know what he'd say when he'd get in there. Thankfully, if the machine they could hear was anything to go by, Michael and Kelly's baby was at least alright.

They stepped in through the open door, and Bosco could see the shadowed image of a figure behind the curtain. He stepped around the curtain, tapping lightly on the wall, and when he stepped around the other side he saw Michael standing this side of the bed, and Kelly had a machine connected to her bare, and very-much pregnant belly where she lay on the table.

"No cellphones," Michael was quick to say, thumbing toward the machine, and Chris – the only one mindful to bring one – switched hers off.

Bosco nodded in understanding, casting a relieved smile in Kelly's direction. "How are ya holdin' up?"

"Tired, getting a little sore...but good," she replied, looking exactly like she had said she felt.

"The doctor say much?" he asked, looking at Michael.

"She's five weeks early, but they're tryin' her on some meds to stop the labor, but so far it hasn't worked."

"Damn," Bosco murmured. He looked at a tired Kelly again, watched as her forehead began to crease. "Contraction?" he asked.

She was holding her breath, nodding.

"Breathe, Kel, remember what the midwife said," Michael coaxed her. He took hold of her hand, "Just breathe," he softly said, doing some of those Lamaze breathing techniques, which Kelly soon copied.

His stomach knotting, Bosco held on tight to Chris' hand. The contraction, he noted, made the machine – or rather, the baby – go crazy with its 'thud thud thud' noises, and he sighed relief when Kelly did. "You okay there, Kel?"

"Not really," she said, laughing gently. She turned her head, looking up at Michael. "Did you tell him?"

"No, not yet," he said.

"Tell me what?" Bosco asked, looking at Chris, before looking back at his brother and Kelly. "Tell me what?" he repeated after a silent few moments.

"We...decided on a name," Michael said. He looked at Kelly, squeezed her hand, smiled warmly at her. He turned back to his brother. "We wanted to...to name him after you, and me."

"You did?"

They both nodded. "Louis Lee Boscorelli," Kelly said, smiling at him. "But, not if you don't want us to."

"No I..." Bosco smiled widely, releasing his hand from Chris' and putting his arm around her shoulder. "I like it. I love it. I think it's good..."

"I think it's beautiful," Chris echoed, her arm around Bosco's waist.

"Thank you," Kelly said, and she and Michael both smiled.

The four were silent for a moment, listening to the fetal heart monitor, when Bosco pointed to Chris. "This is Christina...Chris...my—"

"Girlfriend," Michael smiled, he extended his free hand to shake hers. "Nice to meet you, Chris."

"Same here," Kelly added.

"Likewise," Chris smiled at them both, shaking Michael's hand. "Finally," she added with a small laugh.

"Yeah it's been one of those years," Michael said, and she nodded in agreement.

"It has," she replied.

He was about to say something more, when there was an almost loud knock on the door behind them. Bosco turned to see his Ma and Mercedes come walking in, holding each other's arms.

Rose seemed in a fragile state, so he didn't say anything, only stepped he and Chris aside so she could step in to see Kelly. When she came around the curtain, her hand went to her mouth with a gasp and her eyes quickly welled with tears. "Oh my baby," she said, looking at Michael.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Ma," he spoke fast, "We were tryin' to figure everythin' out, find the right time, get everythin' sorted like we wanted and...I'm sorry Ma, I'm real sorry."

"Don't you be sorry," Rose said, not making any attempt to wipe the tears from her face. "I'm just glad the two of you are okay, and my little grandson," she sniffed.

"My nephew," Mercedes piped up, a proud smile on her face, though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "You knuckle head, Mikey, I could kick your ass for not tellin' us."

"I know," he said with a nod, "I'm sorry, Squirt. I shoulda told you too. All of you." He looked at his brother then, a pleading look in his eyes for forgiveness.

"Just as long as you're all okay," Chris said at Bosco's side. "We both think so."

"Yeah," Bosco nodded.

Rose turned then, looking at Bosco and Chris. The two women stared at each other for a moment, when Rose broke into tears. "You told him...I can see it on your face. And his..."

Bosco's forehead creased, wondering how his Ma knew...but then, he remembered, Chris had told him about a telephone call the two had shared earlier that morning.

"Petrified," Chris smiled, and the older woman laughed. "Course, we both are," she said, clutching onto Bosco's arm.

"What's...goin' on?" Michael asked, giving a confused look to Kelly, before casting the same look in his brother's direction.

Swallowing, Bosco slowly exhaled. "Chris and I..."

"We're pregnant too," Chris continued for him.

"No way!" Mercedes exclaimed, rather loudly, making Rose and Chris both laugh.

Bosco and Michael just stared at each other, and poor Kelly was having another of her contractions. When she winced aloud, Michael quickly turned back to her, held her hand just as tight as he did with her last contraction. "Breathe," he whispered, doing those Lamaze breathing techniques with her again.

Rose stood there, a nervous wreck, while Mercedes stepped over and gave Bosco's side a massive hug. He hugged her back, kissing the top of her head, his eyes going back to Kelly and Michael.

Right now, he really didn't know what to think. Didn't know what to say. He didn't really even know how he felt. Kelly was a few weeks away from her due date, and he had no idea if any of the medications the doctors were giving her were going to work, or if it meant little Louis Lee Boscorelli was gonna end up being born earlier than he should be, but it freaked him out.

This time, more than any other moment in his life, he really wished he knew how it was all going to turn out. He wished he knew how things would go with Chris' pregnancy too. But as he stood there, one arm holding Chris tight, and the other around Mercedes' shoulder, all he could do was wait. That was all any of them could do.

It sure was some Christmas though. In less than twenty-four hours he had found out he was going to be an uncle, and a father. He couldn't help but smile about that.


End file.
